We were ignored, say fishermen

By John Oywa and Kepher Otieno

Fishing industry players protested at the Budget, saying it ignored the plight of fishermen.

Experts say the failure to lower taxation on fishing gear was a blow to fishermen.

The Executive Director of NGO Friends of Lake Victoria (Osienala), Dr Obiero Ong’ang’a, described the budget as a ‘big let down’.

He said the decision to allocate Sh1.1 billion for the construction of fish ponds in 140 constituencies was not enough if it failed to zero-rate tax on fishing nets and outboard engines.

He said the Government should have concentrated on Lake Victoria, which he said earns the country more than Sh 8 billion annually from fish.

Illegal nets

Dr Ong’ang’a said fishermen would continue to use illegal fishing nets because they could not afford the recommended larger nets.

"It will be difficult to control illegal fishing because fishermen have been using illegal nets," said Ong’ang’a.

He, however, welcomed the allocation of more funds to improving rural roads.

He said this would improve accessibility to fish landing beaches.

He said he expected the Government to remove taxes on fibre glass to discourage boat builders from the lake region from using timber.

"The boat industry has resulted in destruction of trees in Nyanza because fibre glass is expensive," said Ong’ang’a.

Fishermen at Dunga beach in Kisumu criticised the Budget, saying it ignored economic activities in the region.

"I expected him to talk about the Fisheries Development Authority proposed by his predecessors," said Mr Richard Okeyo.

Water hyacinth

Another fisherman, Mr Meshack Oniala said he expected the Government to factor the water hyacinth control in the Budget.

"The hyacinth has paralysed fishing activities," he said.

But MPs from the lake region welcomed proposals to construct fishponds.

Legislators John Pesa (Migori), Edick Anyanga (Nyatike) and John Mbadi (Gwassi) said construction of the ponds would create jobs.

The Government expects to create 120,000 jobs in fish farming, according to the stimulus Budget read yesterday by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.